Old selling trap
- Present before diagnosing
- Assume every interested buyer is qualified
- Send proposals before understanding decision process
- Defend price after value has already been weakened
The method
Common Sense Selling is diagnosis before prescription.
The method from Jim Dunn and John Schumann's Common Sense Selling books helps salespeople stop pushing features and start leading better sales conversations around trust, pain, resources, authority, and decision process.
The shift
From product pusher to problem solver.
Traditional selling encourages reps to tell the story, handle objections, and close harder. Common Sense Selling starts earlier: find out whether the buyer has a real problem, whether they are serious about solving it, and whether both sides should keep investing time.
Common Sense Selling
- Set expectations before the conversation begins
- Investigate pain, resources, authority, and urgency
- Agree on next steps before presenting
- Present only what connects to the buyer's stated problem
The process
A simple path for complex sales conversations.
The process gives reps and managers a common way to understand where the deal is healthy, where it is weak, and what has to happen next.
- Opening agreementSet the agenda, reduce pressure, and define what both sides need from the meeting.
- InvestigateFind the buyer's pain, resources, authority, decision process, and consequences of inaction.
- Closing planClarify what would happen if the solution fits before you present it.
- Targeted presentationShow only the solution that connects to what the buyer already told you matters.
- Implementation and monitorDeliver, check outcomes, and earn the next opportunity through trust.
Why buyers respond
The process lowers pressure instead of increasing it.
- Not everyone is a prospectReps learn to qualify instead of chase every polite conversation.
- The buyer keeps freedom of choiceThe conversation is built around mutual fit, not manipulation.
- Trust is protectedSalespeople ask before they prescribe and listen before they solve.
- Managers can coach itThe method gives teams shared language for live deal reviews.
Jim Dunn & John Schumann
The guys behind the system.
SalesCoach is not anonymous courseware. It is the online home of the Common Sense Selling method built by Jim and John, the trainers and authors behind the books, tools, and lessons.
Founder, author, sales process architect
Jim Dunn
Jim founded Whetstone Group in 1992 and helped develop Common Sense Selling into a practical sales process used by thousands of salespeople and managers. His background includes national speaking, sales books, financial services, commercial banking, technology, commercial real estate, manufacturing, life sciences, and professional services.
International sales trainer and course leader
John Schumann
John brought decades of sales and marketing experience from national and international companies into the Common Sense Selling system. His training background spans complex selling, sales leadership, corporate teams, and the online SalesCoach curriculum.
Unconditional guarantee
Try the process in your own pipeline. Keep it only if it earns its place.
We are so confident your sales results will improve after taking SalesCoach that we give you a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Let us know within 30 days that you want a refund, and we will send it back with one click.
You will find value in the program and be able to put it to use immediately. After this training, you will have a process to help you close more business without discounting, get out of dead deals sooner, and sell with more confidence.
- Online by designNo need to block out days away from the field to learn the system.
- Reinforced for a yearThe method keeps showing up in weekly practice, assessments, and manager coaching.
- Built for applicationThe point is not course completion. It is better sales behavior in live opportunities.
Common objections
Questions buyers ask before they commit to sales training.
The answer is usually the same: the selling environment changes, but buyers still need trust, relevance, qualification, and clear next steps.
See all FAQsWill this work with modern selling?
Yes. Modern buyers are more informed, more skeptical, and less patient with generic pitches. Common Sense Selling works because it starts with diagnosis, qualification, trust, and clear next steps before a solution is presented.
My business is different. Will this still apply?
The examples change, but the sales problems are familiar: weak qualification, unclear authority, price pressure, stalled proposals, and vague follow-up. The process gives your team a way to adapt the questions to your market instead of memorizing a script.
My salespeople are different. Can one process fit everyone?
The goal is not to turn every rep into the same personality. The goal is to give every rep the same discipline: set expectations, uncover the real problem, qualify the opportunity, and earn a clear decision path.
My customers are different. What if they do not respond to sales training tactics?
That is exactly why the method avoids pressure tactics. It helps reps ask better questions, listen earlier, and connect the solution to the customer's stated problem instead of assuming what matters.
How does this work in an email-centric world?
Email works best when it supports a clear sales process. SalesCoach helps reps write emails that earn the next conversation, confirm meeting agreements, summarize pain, and avoid sending proposals before the opportunity is qualified.
How does this work in an AI-centric world?
AI can help with research, call planning, follow-up drafts, and role-play practice. It does not replace judgment. Common Sense Selling gives reps the structure to decide what to ask, what to verify, and when the deal is real.
Does this work remotely?
Yes. Remote selling makes structure more important, not less. Reps need better opening agreements, cleaner agendas, sharper questions, and more explicit next steps because informal room cues are weaker.
Does this work during Zoom calls?
Yes. The same process applies: set the agenda, create comfort, diagnose the problem, qualify the decision path, and agree on what happens next. The format changes, but the buyer still needs trust and clarity.
Start training
Learn the method inside the online course path.
Common Sense Selling becomes useful when it is applied to your real calls, pipeline, proposals, and coaching conversations.